Narrow Results

Neutrino physics is one of the most active fields of research with important implications for particle physics, cosmology and astrophysics. On the other hand, motivated by some theories including string theory, formulation of physical theories in more than four spacetime dimensions has been the subject of increasing attention in recent years. Interaction of neutrinos with gravitational fields is one of the interesting phenomena which can lead to transition between different helicity states (spin oscillations). We study neutrino spin oscillations in Schwarzschild and RN backgrounds in higher-dimensional gravitational fields. We calculate the transition probability as a function of time and also study the dependence of the oscillation frequency on the orbital radius. The results help us to better understand the behavior of gravity and neutrinos in higher dimensions.

We develop the quasiclassical theory of a massive neutrino spin evolution in the presence of gravitational fields, and the corresponding probability of the neutrino spin oscillations in gravitational fields is derived for the first time. On this basis we also predict a new mechanism for electromagnetic radiation by a neutrino moving in the vicinity of gravitating objects (the "spin light of neutrino," SLν, in gravitational fields). It is shown that the total power of this radiation is proportional to the neutrino gamma factor to the fourth power, and the emitted photon energy, for the case of an ultra relativistic neutrino, spans up to gamma-rays. We investigate the SLν caused by both gravitational and electromagnetic fields, also accounting for effects of arbitrary moving and polarized matter, in various astrophysical environments. In particular, we discuss the SLν emitted by a neutrino moving in the vicinity of a rotating neutron star, black hole surrounded by dense matter, as well as by a neutrino propagating in the relativistic jet from a quasar.

We study neutrino spin oscillations in gravitational fields. The quasi-classical approach is used to describe the neutrino spin evolution. First we examine the case of a weak gravitational field. We obtain the effective Hamiltonian for the description of neutrino spin oscillations. We also receive the neutrino transition probability when a particle propagates in the gravitational field of a rotating massive object. Then we apply the general technique to the description of neutrino spin oscillations in the Schwarzschild metric. The neutrino spin evolution equation for the case of the neutrino motion in the vicinity of a black hole is obtained. The effective Hamiltonian and the transition probability are also derived. We examine the neutrino oscillations process on different circular orbits and analyze the frequencies of spin transitions. The validity of the quasi-classical approach is also considered.

We summarize the session MGAT7, Gravitational fields with sources. The session focused on exact solutions of the field equations (Einstein’s or alternative) with physically interesting matter sources.